Blessing Untouched By Evil

בפסוק כי ה"א מביאך א"א טובה כו' א' אשר לא במסכנות ת' בה לחם כו' אשר אבני' ברזל

On the pasuk, "For Hashem your God is bringing you to a good land... a land in which you will eat bread without scarceness... a land whose stones are iron" (Devarim 8:7-9).

The Sfas Emes opens with the Torah's description of Eretz Yisrael as a good land that provides bread without scarceness and whose stones are iron. He will explain why it is specifically called good.

דכ' ארורה האדמה כו' בזעת אפיך תאכל מכח שנתערב טוב ורע בעולם

For it is written, "Cursed is the ground... by the sweat of your brow shall you eat bread" (Bereishis 3:17-19) — this came about because good and evil became intermingled in the world.

The curse upon Adam, that bread comes only through toil, stems from the fact that after the sin good and evil became blended together throughout creation.

ולכן אחר החטא כל דבר הבא לעולם מתערב בו מסט"א

Therefore, after the sin, everything that comes into the world has the sitra achra (the side of impurity) mixed into it.

As a consequence of the original sin, anything entering the world carries within it some trace of the forces of impurity.

והאבות שנתברכו מפי הקב"ה הפריש אותם הקב"ה מזה התערובת כמ"ש בכל מכל כל ולמדו חז"ל מכאן שלא שלט בהם יצה"ר שלא הי' בהם מזה התערובת דאין ארור מתדבק בברוך

But the Avos, who were blessed directly from the mouth of the Holy One, Blessed is He, were separated by Hashem from this admixture, as it is written, "with everything," "from everything," "everything" (regarding Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov). From this Chazal learned that the yetzer hara had no dominion over them, for there was none of this admixture in them, since that which is cursed does not cling to that which is blessed.

The Avos were an exception: blessed directly by Hashem with the word "all," they were cleansed of any mixture of evil, so the yetzer hara had no grip on them, because a curse cannot attach itself to something fully blessed.

ולכן בחר להם הקב"ה ארץ ישראל כמ"ש חבל נחלתכם

Therefore the Holy One, Blessed is He, chose Eretz Yisrael for them, as it is written, "the portion of your inheritance."

Because the Avos were free of admixture, Hashem gave their descendants Eretz Yisrael, the land described as the portion of their inheritance.

כי שם צוה ה' את הברכה ולכן אין הקללה מתדבק שם ונק' ארץ טובה

For there Hashem commanded the blessing, and therefore the curse does not cling there, and it is called a good land.

Eretz Yisrael is the place where Hashem commanded blessing to rest, so no curse can take hold there, which is why the Torah calls it a good land.

וכמו כן בזמן בחר לו הקב"ה השבת ויברך אלקים כו' יום השביעי ואין ארור מתדבק בברוך ולכן איתא כי אפי' אדה"ר כשנתקלל הגין עליו השבת ולא נתגרש מג"ע עד אחר השבת כי הוא שורש הברכה

Likewise, within time, the Holy One, Blessed is He, chose Shabbos for Himself, as it is written, "And God blessed... the seventh day" (Bereishis 2:3); and that which is cursed does not cling to that which is blessed. Therefore it is brought down that even Adam HaRishon, when he was cursed, was protected by Shabbos and was not banished from Gan Eden until after Shabbos, for it is the root of the blessing.

Just as Hashem chose a special place free of curse, He chose a special time — Shabbos — which He blessed; since a curse cannot cling to a blessing, even Adam was shielded by Shabbos and not expelled from Gan Eden until it ended, because Shabbos is the source of blessing.

ושפע היורדת בשבת אין בו מגע סט"א

And the shefa (Divine flow) that descends on Shabbos has no contact with the sitra achra.

The Divine abundance that comes down on Shabbos is entirely untouched by the forces of impurity.

וזה שרמז במד' לטובתך נתתי לך השבת שהוא טוב ולא רע

This is what the Midrash hinted at: "For your good I have given you the Shabbos" — for it is good and not evil.

The Midrash teaches that Shabbos was given as a pure good, with no admixture of evil mixed into it.

וכ"כ בשבת טוב להודות

And so it is written regarding Shabbos, "It is good to give thanks" (Tehillim 92:2).

The verse "It is good to give thanks," said of Shabbos, expresses that Shabbos is characterized as good.

והג' סעודות הם בכל מכל כל בזכות שלשה אבות

And the three seudos correspond to "with everything," "from everything," "everything" — in the merit of the three Avos.

The three Shabbos meals parallel the threefold blessing of "all" given to the three Avos.

וכן בא"י לא תחסר כל בה היא הברכה שנק' כל

So too in Eretz Yisrael, "you will lack nothing in it" (Devarim 8:9) — that is the blessing which is called "everything."

In Eretz Yisrael one lacks nothing, and this completeness is the very blessing called "all."

לכן לא במסכנות תאכל שאין בה חשש תערובת

Therefore, "without scarceness shall you eat," for there is no concern of admixture in it.

Since Eretz Yisrael is free of any admixture of evil, its bread is eaten without scarceness.

אשר אבני' ברזל פי' אבן יסוד שהיסודות של א"י חזקים ואין דבר עומד בפניהם

"A land whose stones are iron" — the meaning is a foundation stone, that the foundations of Eretz Yisrael are strong, and nothing can stand against them.

The phrase "stones are iron" alludes to a foundation stone, teaching that the spiritual foundations of Eretz Yisrael are so strong that nothing can withstand them.

והנה אותיות נק' אבנים לפי שכל יסודות העולם על כ"ב אתוון ויש באותיות וצירופיהם הרבה מדרגות שונות

Now, the letters are called "stones," since all the foundations of the world rest upon the twenty-two letters, and within the letters and their combinations there are many different levels.

The Sfas Emes now reveals that "stones" hint at the letters of the alef-beis, upon which all of creation is built, with countless gradations in their combinations.

אבל אותיות שא"י עומד עליהם הם גבוהים מאוד

But the letters upon which Eretz Yisrael stands are exceedingly lofty.

The particular letters that form the foundation of Eretz Yisrael stand at an extraordinarily high level.

וכמו כן בציור הנפשות והזמן הכל על אותיות

And so too in the formation of the souls and of time, everything rests upon letters.

The same principle applies to souls and to time: both are constructed from these underlying letters.

ואותיות המיוחדים לשבתות ויו"ט הם משונים

And the letters that are unique to the Shabbosos and Yamim Tovim are of a distinct kind.

The letters that compose Shabbosos and Yamim Tovim are of a uniquely elevated character.

וכמו כן בנפשות אותיות מיוחדים לנפשות בנ"י והצדיקים

And so too among the souls, there are letters unique to the souls of Bnei Yisrael and the tzaddikim.

Among souls as well, there are special letters that form the souls of Bnei Yisrael and the tzaddikim.

וזה בחי' אות דמילה

This is the aspect of the os (sign) of milah.

This elevated letter-aspect within a Jew is expressed through the os, the sign, of bris milah.

אות דשבת אבן שתי' שבמקדש שהוא אות שכל העולם עומד עליו

The os of Shabbos is the even shesiyah (foundation stone) that is in the Beis HaMikdash, which is the os upon which the entire world stands.

The os of Shabbos corresponds to the even shesiyah in the Beis HaMikdash, the foundation stone upon which the whole world rests.

וכן בשבת כ' אות היא וכן במילה אות והוא אות ממש שמיוחד בעולם שנה נפש רשימה קדושה שאין סט"א שולט שם בכח הש"י שדרשו חז"ל צבאות אות הוא בצבא שלו

And so regarding Shabbos it is written, "it is an os (sign)" (Shemos 31:17), and so too regarding milah it is an os — and it is a literal os, a holy mark set apart in the realms of olam (world), shanah (year), and nefesh (soul), where the sitra achra has no dominion through the power of Hashem Yisbarach, as Chazal expounded on "Tzevaos" — that He is an os (sign) within His host.

Shabbos and milah are both called an os — a genuine, holy sign set into world, year, and soul, a mark where impurity cannot rule because of Hashem's power, as Chazal read "Tzevaos" to mean that Hashem is a sign within His host.

וכל בחי' הנ"ל נקראו טוב שבת טוב להודות

And all the aspects mentioned above are called good: Shabbos — "it is good to give thanks";

All these holy aspects share the title "good": Shabbos is described by the verse "it is good to give thanks."

א"י ארץ טובה

Eretz Yisrael — a good land;

Eretz Yisrael bears the title of a good land.

ומילה כי טוב הוא שנולד מהול:

and milah — "for he was good," for he was born already circumcised.

And milah too is associated with good, as Moshe Rabbeinu was "good" — born already circumcised.

Summary: The Sfas Emes explains why Eretz Yisrael is called a good land. After the sin of Adam HaRishon, good and evil became intermingled, so that everything entering the world carries a trace of the sitra achra; the Avos, however, were blessed directly by Hashem with the word "all" and were cleansed of this admixture, since a curse cannot cling to a blessing. For this reason Hashem chose for Bnei Yisrael both a special place, Eretz Yisrael, and a special time, Shabbos — both being places where Hashem commanded blessing to rest, untouched by impurity, and therefore both called "good." He then teaches that the world, time, and souls are all built upon the letters of the alef-beis, and that the loftiest of these letters form Eretz Yisrael, Shabbos, and the holy souls of Bnei Yisrael. This elevated, holy letter is the os — expressed in the bris milah, in Shabbos, and in the even shesiyah of the Beis HaMikdash — a mark of kedushah upon which the world stands and where the sitra achra has no dominion.